I was also surprised and happy to see that Daddy's narcissuses had bloomed

at my son Mark's house this week...(I will bring some here this fall).

Daddy loved bringing them in by the huge armloads,

and continued bringing them to me here in Sikeston as long as he was able...

♥

Right before the farm in Bloomfield sold,

I spent a long day digging and digging these ancient

well, okay ~ at least "heirloom" ~ bulbs from one of his fields, at the top of a

rolling hill where a farmhouse once stood...

So very, very long ago that Daddy didn't even remember

a house being there when he was a child in the 1920s...

It was there in the 1800s, most likely.

But every spring, huge drifts of these little paperwhite narcissi appear,

more and more every year. Even if the field was mowed later in the spring/

early summer, the leaves always had time to gather nutrients

and die back first, so the flowers were unaffected and just kept multiplying!

I always think about a farm wife of that time whenever I see daffodils or other spring bulbs

blooming where no homestead is still standing...maybe newly married,

planting "pass-along" flowers and bulbs...

Perhaps given to her by her mother or a friend...(a "Flower Friend"...

someone you don't know really well who shares her flowers with you, anyway!)...

Almost certainly not spending money on such things...

Isn't it great how bulbs like this can continue indefinitely?

I know these aren't the original bulbs from a hundred or more years ago ~

(I wonder how long a single bulb lives and flowers, though?)

~ but they are the "daughters"; a direct connection ~ which I think is amazing!

(Some even went to live with my dear friend Elaine in New York...isn't that fun? I wonder what the original "planter" would think?)

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Since I wasn't being very productive "art-wise" this week

I went around the yard and took a few photos...;^)

I so love Solomon's Seal! It's another perennial that just keeps multiplying.

So graceful!

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Here again is Grandma Launius's "mystery" shrub that she called Spice Bush...

I finally found out last spring that it is actually Clove Currant,

but it does have a wonderful spicy fragrance!

♥

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Lots and lots of blooms on the strawberries...and even a few tiny berries!

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Oh, here is something cool!

Did you know Lemon Balm self-seeds?...
I didn't!

Very prolifically, too! The ground between the raised herb beds is covered

with tiny Lemon Balm babies...if you were close, I would share with all of you!

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I couldn't wait any longer...I had to take a couple of the Fairy Houses out to the herb bed that I planto make into a "village" (long enough for pictures, anyway)
....and place them around, seeing where I still need to "landscape"...;^)Still a lot to do (like make some more houses!) ~ but it will be fun...Stay tuned!

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That leafy mound in the second raised bed is my original Lemon Balm...

the area between the beds is where all the little ones are...

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Catmint!

Leo, Cyrus and Tallulah love this stuff fresh...I just crush the leaves a little

and they have a good ol' time rolling it into the rug...

Not sure if my regular Catnip is going to come up this year or not...

I think the Chocolate Mint may have choked it out last year...:^(

(You have to watch out for that mint, chocolate or not!)~

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Mr. B got me this cute little mini rose for the Fairy Garden...

"Denver's Dream"....
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My poor little tortoise!

I always leave the statuary out as winter here doesn't usually affect it adversely,

but now this poor little turtle has a boo-boo.

I told myself I wasn't going to paint any more concrete as I like the way it ages

naturally and gets mossy, but I'll have to make an exception...

I have an idea for this fellow, anyway!

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Yesterday on my way to school to pick up grandson Nick,

I stopped by our old neighborhood....

There is a huge vacant lot at the end of the street where a little house used to be...

kind of the "town version" of the area where the narcissi grow at the farm...

Later it will be mowed, but for now, it has reverted to a little nature preserve...

It is evident where Mrs. Howell, the lady who lived there for many years,

had planted her bulbs and perennials...

The first thing I saw were the violets everywhere...

The regular rich purple ones as well as the blue and white "Confederate" ones...

How I used to love picking those for Grandma Collier,

bringing her big bunches..."bouquets"...as many as I could fit in my hands!

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In several places over the lot, there were beds of hyacinths...

the "old-fashioned" kind ~ with looser, more "weeping" bell-shaped flowers...

The purple color of these was almost irridescent!

Lots of bees, too, which I was glad to see...

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Drifts of Sweet Williams...

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I SO wanted to climb on this swing!

I thought better of it, though, since Nick was expecting me.

Oh, I almost forgot!!

Jonathan once more indulged me and drew a name for the little Fairy Shoes...

and it is Denise!Her delightful blog is "Shortybear's Place" and you can find it here ~ :^)

Thank you all for ALL your sweet comments...I love, love, love them...♥

Saturday, April 6, 2013

I truly believe it is Spring! :^)
65° and sunny, and I am thoroughly enjoying it!

I sat in the grass "playing" with photographing my Fairy Houses ~

In the midst of drifts of little Bluettes...Love these sweet little baby-blue flowers!They are so tiny that you would really never notice them unless you were looking for them...

I took the photos in the neighboring lot....recently planted with a multitude of trees,

so we probably don't have to worry about any actual

building going on in the foreseeable future...

Happy that I have never been allergic to anything (except poison ivy)!

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Here is the newest, (slightly smaller than the first ones) ~

Fairy House ~ (shingled by Mr. B.)~

I so wish these charming

little Bluettes could last the season long ~ they are fleeting, though

so I'll have to get as many photos as I can, while they last.

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Maybe the Fae will move right in...;^)
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The most distinguished Fae, of course, leave their footwear at the door...;^)

I have to tell you about the first pair of little green Fairy Shoes that I made... you may notice them on the steps of one of the Fairy House photos...Well, I just picked up that house (to move it to a better location for the Bluettes)without a second thought to the shoes...They probably fell right down to the ground, past the reachof mowers and such...I hope they stay there for years and years...to be found some day bysome little folk, sure the Fae had been there!

♥

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This is my prototype for the first "Mini" Fairy House...

made on a glass ornament, the details on this one are tiny!

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Awww.....Max....my remaining boy-bunny, in his side of the Bunny-Duplex...
Sadly, his mate, Ruby, passed on to that great Bunny-Hutch in Heaven last summer...

We don't know why; she was spayed

(unspayed female bunnies can have so many health problems),

and was cared for in the best bunny-way possible...

Sweet Max remains, and has since learned how to go down

to the lower level (where he can pick his own greens, if he likes...

(The bunny duplex has 3 levels; the main one, then an upper level

where it's warmer for winter, and the bottom level that goes down to

the ground where they can eat grass if they want; Max is the only

one that has learned to go down there!) ~ ♥

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A tiny little visitor to the Bunny Hutch...would have made me squeal and jump away in the past...

now I just try to get a picture...
♥
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Winter Savory!Last year the savory was this size by the first of March....~Also, last year our winter was SO mild that the petunias...and most of the annuals...didn't freeze ~ It was strange, just continuing 2011's flowers into Summer 2012!Although we didn't have a "bad" 2012 winter, considering...maybe a few nights into the 'teens.I'm actually glad that we can begin with a clean slate this year and start with all new annuals....with no guilt...:^)~